Dictionary of Iconic Expressions in Japanese [Reprint ed.] 3110128101, 9783110128109

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Table of contents :
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Contents
Introduction
Dictionary of iconic expressions in Japanese
A
Β
C
D
Ε
F
G
Η
I
J
K
Μ
Ν
Ο
Ρ
R
S
Τ
U
W
Y
Ζ
List of abbreviations
Index
Recommend Papers

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Dictionary of Iconic Expressions in Japanese

W G DE

Trends in Linguistics Documentation 12 Editors

Werner Winter Richard A. Rhodes

Mouton de Gruyter Berlin · New York

Dictionary of Iconic Expressions in Japanese A-J Hisao Kakehi Ikuhiro Tamori Lawrence Schourup with the assistance of

Leslie James Emerson

Mouton de Gruyter Berlin · New York

1996

M o u t o n de Gruyter (formerly Mouton, The Hague) is a Division of Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin.

© Printed on acid-free paper which falls within the guidelines of the ANSI to ensure permanence and durability.

Library of Congress

Cataloging-in-Publication-Data

Dictionary of iconic expressions in Japanese / [edited by] Hisao Kakehi, Ikuhiro Tamori, Lawrence Schourup : with the assistance of Leslie James Emerson. p. cm. - (Trends in linguistics. Documentation ; 12) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 3-11-012810-1 (cloth : alk paper) 1. Japanese language — Mimetic words - Dictionaries. 2. Japanese language - Dictionaries - English. I. Kakehi, Hisao, 1 9 3 0 . II. Tamori, Ikuhiro, 1 9 4 6 . III. Schourup, Lawrence C. (Lawrence Clifford), 1947— IV. Series. PL685.D453 1996 495.6'321-dc20 95-45183 CIP

Die Deutsche Bibliothek



Cataloging-in-Publication-Data

Kakehi, Hisao: Dictionary of iconic expressions in Japanese / Hisao Kakehi ; Lawrence Schourup ; Ikuhiro Tamori. With the assistance of Leslie James Emerson. - Berlin ; New York : Mouton de Gruyter. (Trends in linguistics : Documentation ; 12) ISBN 3-11-012810-1 NE: Schourup, Lawrence:; Tamori, Ikuhiro:; Trends in linguistics / Documentation A - J (1996)

© Copyright 1996 by Walter de Gruyter & Co., D-10785 Berlin All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printing: Gerike, Berlin. Binding: Lüderitz & Bauer, Berlin. Printed in Germany.

DEDICATED TO PROFESSOR YUICHI ΜΙΤΟ AND TO PROFESSOR TOSHIKO WAIDA FOR THEIR INSIGHT AND THEIR ENDEAVORS

Acknowledgments

We wish to express our appreciation to the many people who have contributed to the completion of this work since the project began in 1980. We are particularly indebted to the late Professor Toshiko Waida who was closely involved in all the early stages of compilation and supervised the gathering and cataloging of published examples. With her warmth, humor, and ebullient good cheer, Waida-sensei also very much set the tone of our afternoon editorial meetings. She is dearly missed. Leslie James Emerson worked with us steadily until his departure from Japan in 1990. Although he contributed to many aspects of compilation and editing, his primary responsibility was to produce draft English translations of Japanese examples, a task for which his dexterity in both languages immediately recommended him. A number of people who worked on the project for shorter periods, also made significant contributions. Kenichi Kadooka joined the team during the final years and served in a variety of roles. He was importantly involved in the process of editing definitions and examples. Masaaki Yano joined the group during the same period and served both as a usage consultant and technical assistant. He played a key role in readying the index for publication. Roy Young, involved in the project until 1982, was responsible for producing preliminary drafts of definitions. We also express our gratitude to Masayoshi Shibatani for very useful suggestions in regard to the organization of the dictionary; to Werner Winter for suggestions he made as Series Editor for Mouton de Gruyter and for participating in the workshop on Japanese onomatopoeic expressions conducted by the editors at the 14th International Congress of Linguists in East Berlin in 1987; to Haruya Matsumoto, Shinzo Kitamura, and Katsumi Tanaka for many valuable discussions of particular issues; to Kazuhiko Ibuki and Hideo Ikarugi for generous technical assistance; and to Kazuyo Takemoto, Noriko Imazato and the other students in the English Department, class of 1989, at Osaka Women's University, who assisted in gathering examples from published sources. We extend very particular thanks to Hideo Tominaga, who graciously undertook to read the entire manuscript in the final stages of preparation, and to Terumi Yumoto and Sujeet Pradhan, who carried out the laborious work of formatting the dictionary. We also wish to thank Seiko Tamori for her efforts as business manager.

acknowledgments

We are grateful to the Japanese Ministry of Education for financial support of the data-base used for this project, during the three-year period from 1988-1990, and to the Academic Support Fund of Kobe University of Commerce for additional funding. Finally, we wish to express our deep gratitude to the late Professor Yuichi Mito, senior co-editor of the first dictionary of Japanese iconic expressions with English translations and definitions, which appeared in 1981. Several other dictionaries of iconic forms have been published since then, but all implicitly subscribe to Mito's original view that familiarity with the use of iconic words is indispensable to an appreciation of Japanese as a living language.

Kobe, 1995

Hisao Kakehi Ikuhiro Tamori Lawrence Schourup

Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction Dictionary of iconic expressions in Japanese List of abbreviations Index

vii xi 1 1338 1340

Introduction

The vocabulary of Japanese includes a large number of words that may be broadly characterized as iconic or mimetic, that is, words whose phonetic form is felt by speakers to be imitative of natural sounds, actions, and states. Many Japanese iconic words do not appear in either monolingual or bilingual dictionaries despite the fact that these words are well known to native speakers. The omission of many iconic words from English-based bilingual dictionaries is perhaps understandable: it is in some cases difficult or impossible to provide even approximate English equivalents for these terms; moreover, those English expressions which do seem partially equivalent to Japanese iconic forms are often considered by native speakers of English to be childish or informal and of marginal lexical status. Under-representation of such forms in monolingual Japanese dictionaries is harder to explain, but is probably also due, in part to the feeling that such highly expressive forms are not properly considered to be part of the standard language. As against the impression that mimetics may not be part of mainstream Japanese, there is the evidence of actual usage. When we examine the occurrence of iconic words in both spoken and written Japanese, we must conclude that such words enjoy a position in the language that is anything but marginal. Such forms are indispensable to daily communication. Iconic expressions occur frequently in conversation, especially in informal conversation; they are widely used in newspapers and magazines, in most forms of advertising, and in literature, from children's stories, where they are used lavishly, to popular novels. Facility in using such forms to express subtle gradations of expressive meaning is widely recognized as a mark of fluency. The important role that iconic expressions play in Japanese has been brought into clearer focus in recent years with the appearance of a number of specialized dictionaries and handbooks of iconic forms, and even a learner's thesaurus of iconic words. These reference works differ in their goals and organization, but all give overdue treatment to a much neglected sector of the Japanese lexicon. They help to fill, for translators and students of the language, the 'information gap' created by the sparse representation of iconic forms in general-use Japanese-English dictionaries. The present dictionary is an attempt to provide a comprehensive resource that will be useful to all those who require information about

introduction

Japanese iconic forms or about related English forms. While intended primarily to meet the needs of linguists who have an interest in Japanese, in expressive language, or in sound symbolism, the dictionary should also be of use to those concerned with learning or teaching the expressive vocabulary of Japanese to English speakers (or that of English to speakers of Japanese); to students and teachers of Japanese literature, or of English literature to speakers of Japanese; and to translators. To answer the needs of such users, we have attempted improvements over existing dictionaries in several areas, which will be discussed in detail in later sections of this introduction. In particular, we have attempted to provide (1) coverage of a greater number of iconic words; (2) more complete and reliable definitions; (3) explicit information concerning syntactic usage; and (4) a balance between constructed typical-case examples and natural-source examples. This dictionary is an attempt to further the descriptive effort which began in earnest with the publication of dictionaries of Japanese iconic expressions by Amanuma and Asano in the 1970's, and which is still now in its early stages. Detailed studies are still needed to clarify the meaning of individual iconic forms as well as the often intricate semantic relationships among words referring to the same general area of meaning. Studies of syntactic, semantic, phonological, and stylistic variation in the iconic vocabulary of Japanese, and studies of the acquisition and historical development of iconic forms, remain to be carried out. Such studies will not only illuminate the role of Japanese iconic expressions but more generally will shed light on broad theoretical questions concerning the function and status of expressive language.

Organization of the dictionary Main text 1. Entries Iconic forms are listed alphabetically in roman spelling. Words containing geminate consonants (such as sappari, spelled in this dictionary as sa'pari), and other words whose spelling contains an apostrophe, are alphabetized as if the apostrophe were not present. The only exceptions to this practice are cases where two relevant words are identical except that xii

introduction

one contains an apostrophe in a particular position while the other does not. In such cases the word that does not contain an apostrophe is placed before the one that does. Thus, for example, supori appears before su'pori. The iconic words listed in this dictionary are intended to be those generally known to speakers of Japanese. With a few clearly noted exceptions, we have excluded words that are rare, slangy, used in highly restricted dialect areas, or that seem to us to represent nonce formations. The concentrated use of sound-symbolic elements in Japanese lends itself to new creations, many of which never become widespread and are often short-lived. We have tried to include all iconic forms which are established in standard Japanese. In practice this criterion has meant excluding forms and usages for which an example could be found but that were not recognized by us or our informants, including a few items listed in earlier dictionaries of Japanese iconic terms. Note, in this regard, that reduplications and forms with the suffix -ri are listed only if the reduplicated or suffixed form is in common use; thus, for example, the common form kachin-kachin 'an originally soft or liquid substance becoming hard' has been included, while the very uncommon boton-boton 'sound of small objects falling onto a soft or wet surface' has been excluded. The meanings of the excluded reduplications and -ri suffixed forms can usually be surmised from the meaning of the listed root form. Forms which have the phonological shape of iconic forms but are written with Chinese characters and consist of combinations of independent non-iconic roots (e.g. doo-doo 'magnificently', raku-raku 'easily') are also not listed. A few words which may originally have been iconic but have now become simple adverbs (e.g. cho'to 'a bit') are also excluded.

2. Definitions Within a single entry sound definitions are given first, followed by manner definitions. There may be various separate sound and manner definitions for a single entry. In such cases each definition is given a number (SI, S2, etc., M l , M2, etc.). No particular importance should be attached to these numbers; they are given only for ease of reference. Within each Μ definition, or numbered sub-definition, there may also appear additional figurative definitions, designated 'Fig'. These figurative definitions, listed after the non-figurative examples, are not always very closely related to the more general numbered definitions within which they are included. This point should be kept in mind when using the index [see Index below].

xiii

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Note also that when a figurative meaning is easily predictable from the main definition, no special figurative definition is listed. We would like to emphasize that the definitions given in this dictionary are very general. They are not attempts to express delicate subtleties of meaning, and they do not always provide a clear-cut way to differentiate between distinct forms. Our rationale for following this procedure is as follows. First, definitions written with too much delicacy cannot be easily reconciled with the full range of actually occurring examples. Previous work on Japanese iconic expressions has often attempted to provide more detail than data will consistently support. Such over-refined definitions, while they seem to distinguish conveniently between forms that are closely related, mask the fact that closely related forms are often interchangeable in particular contexts without any noticeable change of meaning. In our experience, native speakers of Japanese can, if pressed, provide enormous detail about the differences between semantically related forms, but the information thus provided is often unreliable: different informants typically provide different, often contradictory, subtleties of meaning for a given form. For this reason we have attempted to define iconic words in this dictionary in such a way that the whole range of meaning of each form is included within its various sound and manner definitions. Even with definitions of such breadth, however, it is occasionally the case that a particular usage is only weakly related to the general definition under which it is subsumed. We have tried throughout to strike a balance between generality and detail so that definitions will contain enough specificity to direct users to the appropriate range of meanings but not so much that broad affiliations of meaning are lost from view. In practice this means that definitions for different items are often identical or nearly identical. For finer discrimination, we leave the reader to examine the examples themselves. This is in accordance with our general view that the work of describing the finer aspects of the meaning of Japanese iconic words has yet to be accomplished. The classification of definitions into two general groups, sound and manner, is not intended to be strict. No claim is made that these two categories are theoretically distinct, though they do exhibit some syntactic divergence (-suru forms, for example, rarely involve sound iconics). An attempt has simply been made to divide the forms into those which seem to be primarily sound related and those which are primarily felt by native speakers to designate manners or states. Sound forms frequently have manner associations as well, and, though this happens less often, manner xiv

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forms may also have sound associations. Some forms which designate actions which, in particular circumstances, may produce no actual physical sound have been listed with S definitions (e.g. zuru-zuru 'slide') when this corresponds to native speaker intuition. In a few cases a form is not obviously to be placed more in one category rather than the other, and in such cases the definition has been listed as S/M.

3. Usage categories Within each S or Μ definition, 'usages' are included for each form. These usages are the basic syntactic combinations that are relevant for each form. Though the information contained in these usage categories was not explicitly included in earlier dictionaries of Japanese onomatopoeia, it is essential for appropriate use of each form in discourse. In the case of S forms, normally only one usage is listed per S definition; however, for Μ forms, there may be various usages, listed in the following order: manner adverbial usage [with or without the particle to\\ adjectival usage [with no]·, resultative adverbial usage [with ni]; predicative usage [with da]·, degree and frequency adverbial usages [with no particle]; and verbal usages [with -suru, etc.]. These various usages, discussed later in this introduction, are listed in bold print in the main text. Note that the abbreviations Ν and V in usage categories refer to nouns and verbs, respectively; the symbol 0 is used in unusual cases where the particle to cannot be used. Note also that only usages that are well established have been included. Since all S forms are used as manner adverbials, they never appear with no, ni or da. Use of the particle to is optional with reduplicated sound iconics (e.g. goro-goro (to), gata-goto (to)), but is preferable with bisyllabics ending in Ν and -ri (e.g. dokan-dokan, busuri-busuri). For other types of sound-based manner adverbial S forms, the use of to is obligatory (e.g. goro' to, gorori to). The situation is more complex for Μ forms. Reduplicated forms fall into three categories: (i) for manner adverbials to is optional (e.g. kira-kira (to) hikaru 'glitter'); (ii) for ordinary resultative adverbials ni is obligatory (e.g. kuta-kuta ni tsukareru 'become dead tired'); (iii) for resultatives that modify nouns or are predicative, the particle is obligatory, as in yore-yore no zubon 'worn out pants' and kuta-kuta da 'is very tired'. With Μ forms having the phonological form CV+Q/N+CV+π (see 'Phonological form' below) to is always optional, whether the forms are manner adverbials or resultatives. Manner examples are po'kiri (to) oreru XV

introduction

'snap o f f and fun-war i (to) ukabu 'float lightly'. Resultative examples are gu'tari (to) tsukareru 'be dog tired' and kon-gari (to) yaku 'bake until golden brown'. All other manner adverbial forms take obligatory to. (All resultatives are either reduplicative or have the form CV+Q/N+CV+π and thus fall exhaustively under the previous generalizations.) When Μ forms are combined with verbs to form complex forms, the verb is suffixed and is usually -suru. When manner adverbial iconics ordinarily requiring to enter into such combined forms, they retain to. Those in which to is optional generally do not appear with to . Note that the forms with suffixed -suru may be listed in one of three ways: i) -suru; ii) -shite-iru; iii) -shita N. Such listings should be understood as forming an implicational hierarchy; that is, if the -suru form is listed, both the -shite-iru and -shita Ν forms are possible; if the -shite-iru form is listed, the -shita Ν form is also possible but -suru is not; and if the -shita Ν form is listed, neither -shite-iru nor -suru is possible. There are few exceptions to this hierarchy. Verbs formed with -tsuku , -meku , and -keru are derived from reduplicated forms (e.g. beto-tsuku from beto-beto; see 'Syntactic categorization' below) and are listed under the appropriate reduplication. Nominal usage usually takes the unaltered dictionary form (e.g. wanwan 'dog'). However, combined forms such as the blend gari-ben (from gari-gari benkyoo-suru) are listed under the corresponding reduplication.

4. Examples Throughout the dictionary both fabricated and quoted examples are used. The fabricated examples were created by the editors; quoted examples, numbering about 3,700, are taken from aprroximately 850 twentiethcentury literary sources, usually novels written in the last twenty-five years, and in some cases from newspapers. When the source of an example is not specifically noted, the example should be assumed to have been fabricated. Use of both fabricated and quoted examples provides maximally accurate information about meaning and usage. Quoted examples do not always clearly exemplify the most representative uses of a form; fabricated examples, although designed to illustrate the most typical uses of a form, tend not to adequately represent the semantic range of the form. Use of both types of examples is intended to remedy the deficiencies of a purely intuitive or purely data-based approach. In general the number of examples provided for a particular form gives a rough indication of the form's commonness: very common forms xvi

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are amply exemplified in the dictionary; less common forms sometimes appear with only a single example. If a form is uncommon and its use is equivalent to that of a more common form, no example is provided, but the form is cross-referenced to the dominant form. Each example is given in three versions: the original Japanese, a romanization, and an English translation. Romanization follows the Hepburn system of romanization, with two adjustments: nonfinal moraic nasals [N] are followed by a raised dot [e.g. zun-guri], and the moraic consonant [Q] is represented by an apostrophe (e.g. gyo'). Note also that reduplications have been hyphenated and numerals represented with Arabic numerals in the original example are spelled out in the romanization. Iconic forms are given in hiragana in fabricated examples, and in either hiragana or katakana in quoted examples, depending on the original. Our use of the hyphen in romanized versions of examples is influenced by native speaker intuitions about syllabic structure and is not intended to indicate morphemic boundaries; thus, for example, we write yoma-reru and yoma-seta where a strictly morphemic analysis would require yomare-ru and yom-ase-ta. Note also that the colon used in romanizations of non-iconic words (e.g. suke:to) corresponds to a dash indicating vowel length in a form given in katakana in the original example. This convention is not followed in our romanizations of iconic words, however. Vowel length in mimetics like kyaa is inconsistently represented in ordinary orthography, either as a double vowel or as a dash after a single vowel. We therefore follow the prevalent practice of romanizing iconics consistently with the double vowel spelling in all such cases. We must stress that translations given for iconic forms are only approximations, Japanese iconic forms rarely correspond closely to English forms with related meaning. Note also that an English translation of a Japanese sound form may be primarily associated with manner, and vice versa. In a small number of translations, the lack of a contextually suitable form in English made it necessary to forego a direct translation of the Japanese iconic form being exemplified; in such cases readers must examine the verbal and non-verbal context (and the definition) to determine the value of the iconic form used in the Japanese version. (See, for example, the translation of kata ο pitari to yosete-ita as pressed her shoulder in example #3 under pitari Ml). When multiple examples are given for one form, we have tried to make use of a variety of English translations in different examples whenever doing so did not seem to result in distortion. In the case of quoted examples, the source of the example is given following the English version. Author's names are written, as is xvii

introduction

customary, without indication of vowel length and without raised dots following moraic nasals. The author's given name appears first, followed by the family name. Page numbers are followed by the name of the publisher in abbreviated form. Abbreviations are expanded in the section called 'List of abbreviations' immediately preceding the index at the back of the volume. Publication dates refer to the particular edition from which the example was taken, not necessarily to the earliest edition. Within an example the portion of the example immediately relevant to understanding the use of the iconic form in question is shown with emphasis. In the original Japanese version, this emphasis takes the form of underlining; the emphasized portion appears in plain form in the romanized version and in italics in the English translation. Syntactic differences between Japanese and English occasionally result in a slight semantic mismatch between the emphasized portion in the original and that in the translation. In addition to the emphasized portions enough surrounding text is included in each example to enable the reader to contextualize the form being used. In some cases, and particularly so in the case of quoted examples, a fairly long section of discourse has been included, but an attempt has been made to include no more than is helpful. Irrelevant portions of quoted texts have been elided; when an elided portion falls within the material quoted, the elision is marked with square brackets enclosing ellipsis points ([...]).

5. Index An index of English words and expressions used in definitions and examples appears at the end of the dictionary. Only words and expressions related to the meaning of iconic forms have been included. This index is not intended as a list of English synonyms for Japanese iconics. The English entries listed in the index are often related only to a single aspect of the meaning of the Japanese term or to its use in a particular highly limited context. Moreover, it is only in very exceptional cases, for example in the representation of certain animal noises, that Japanese and English iconics correspond closely in meaning. For these reasons it is necessary for those not already proficient in the use of Japanese iconics to refer to the index first and then also to the relevant Japanese entries in the main text, when looking for Japanese counterparts to English items. Those already adept in the use of Japanese iconic expressions can make use of the English index in a more direct way, as an aid to recalling the Japanese forms which might be appropriate to render the meaning of a given English word. But in all cases, it is important to recognize that a direct word-for-word translation is often not possible in the case of iconic forms. xviii

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The index lists English words alphabetically followed by an alphabetical list of the relevant Japanese forms together with an indication of which definition should be looked under within the main entry for each form (unless the form in question has only one definition). We draw attention to the following additional conventions which have been adhered to in constructing the index: (1) Word class: Many noun/verb pairs such as knock (n.) and knock (v.) are not listed separately. Since it is possible to render a Japanese term with either form ('There was a knock'/'Someone knocked'), it was considered most useful to collapse entries whenever the meanings were not substantially distinct. The same procedure was followed, for the same reason, for many adjective/adverb pairs such as exact/exactly (both listed under exact), and in other cases. When word class is important to the meaning it is separately noted, but this has only been done when not doing so was likely to lead to confusion (e.g. crop (v.)). (2) Inflected forms: Entries are usually listed in their uninflected form. Exceptions are extremely common participial forms (depressed, exciting) and cases in which the inflected form has a distinct meaning (e.g. opening). (3) Multiple word entries: When an English item consists of more than one word, it is listed under the main word in the expression. For example: flurry, in a. The abbreviations s/o 'someone', s/t 'something', and w/o 'without' are used. (4) Optional elements: When items are collapsed parentheses are used to indicate optionality (e.g. stick(y)), especially when a user might be equally likely to look under either the expanded or basic form. (5) Subcategorization: In cases of polysemy, a note on the intended meaning is sometimes given in square brackets. These meaning notes may take two forms: a) a synonym or near-synonym preceded by an equal sign (e.g. pickled [=drunk]) or an indication of context (e.g. play [music]). (6) Alphabetization: Alphabetization of English entries ignores material following commas (except to distinguish otherwise identical entries) and material enclosed in parentheses (again, except to distinguish otherwise identical entries). Hyphens are ignored. Meaning subcategories for a single form appear alphabetically. Alphabetization of Japanese forms is strict, with hyphens and other marks of punctuation being ignored, but indications of which sub-definition should be referred to do not affect alphabetization; rather they appear in the order in which they are listed in the main text, that is, SI, S2, etc., Ml, M2, etc.

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Iconic expressions in Japanese In this section we offer a brief sketch of the phonological, syntactic and sound-symbolic characteristics of Japanese iconic forms. Those wishing to pursue these topics further may consult the works listed in the bibliography following this section.

Phonological form Most Japanese iconics fall into one or another of the following three canonical forms (where C = consonant; V = vowel; Q = moraic consonant; N= moraic nasal; ( ) = optional element): A. Reduplications (bura-bura, kasa-kasa, musha-kusha, kasa-koso, basari-basari, burun-burun) B. CV(Q/N)CVn (e.g. basari, darari, gorori, be'tori, gu'tari, bon-yari, kon-gari) C. CV(CV)Q/N (e.g. ha', sa', ban, gon, keen, basa', goro', gatan, patan) Most reduplications are exactly repeated CVCV structures (e.g. burabura, kasa-kasa), but a minority of CVCV root reduplications are inexact (musha-kusha, gasa-goso). VCV reduplications are common (uja-uja, oro-oro) but occur far less frequently than CVCV reduplications. A rather small number of reduplications are trisyllabic, produced through suffixation of -ri to a root (e.g. sakuri-sakuri, basari-basari). With only one exception (rero-rero), bisyllabic reduplicated roots do not repeat the same consonant in both syllables. Forms not falling into one of the three canonical groups listed above are relatively uncommon: there are a few simple CV(V) structures, as in fu, gaa and zur, a few simple CVCV forms (e.g. soyo, gaba), a modest number of combined forms such as don-pishari and su' ten-korori; and a scattering of other shapes: ata-futa, chigu-hagu, aan, guusuka, hon-waka, pii-pii-po'-po, etc. For further discussion of phonological properties of Japanese iconics see Hamano 1986, which includes a useful discussion of the accentual properties of iconics in a Kanto dialect. We omit further discussion of accent here because accentual structure is not referred to in the main text of the present dictionary. We would note, however, that while Hamano's characterization of accent in Kanto manner adverbials carries over largely unchanged to Kansai dialects, resultative adverbials appear to differ markedly in accentual structure between the two dialects (see Tamori 1984 for discussion).

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Syntactic categorization Japanese iconics are typically used as manner adverbials, as in Kanojo no me ni kirari to hikaru mono ga mieta ( Ί saw a tear glisten momentarily in her eyes.') They are also, however, very commonly used as resultative adverbials, as in Shibakari de kuta-kuta ni tsukareta Ί was exhausted from mowing the lawn.' There is no segmental phonological difference between forms having these two types of adverbial function, but note that resultatives regularly occur with inchoative verbs like collapse and drench which describe events and actions that result in the creation of anew state. Iconics used as resultative adverbials may also modify nouns, as in kutakuta no kodomo 'an exhausted child,' in which case the particle no links the iconic form and the noun, or may appear predicatively with da, as in Kodomo ga kuta-kuta da 'The child is exhausted.' The syntactic behavior of such iconics parallels in some respects that of nominal adjectives such as kirei 'clean' (cf. Heya ο kirei ni katazuketa Ί tidied the room (until it was clean)'; kirei na hey a 'a clean room'; Hey a ga kirei da 'The room is clean'). A few iconics are used as frequency or degree adverbials, as in Yamada-san ο choku-choku mikakeru Ί often see Yamada-san' and Tanaka-san wa saikin meki-meki gorufu no ude ο agete-iru rashii Ί hear that Tanaka-san has improved her golf game markedly of late,' respectively. In addition to their adverbial use, many iconics serve as initial components of combined verb forms. Thus, for example, the verb ha'kirisuru 'become clear' is formed by combining the iconic form ha'kiri 'clear' with the general-purpose verb -suru. Such two-part verbs are common in Japanese but usually involve noun-verb combinations (e.g. benkyoo-suru 'study'). In the case of borrowed words, other source-language syntactic classes may be involved, as in a'pu-suru 'increase' (c'up') and rira'kususuru 'relax'. Not all iconics may enter into combined forms with -suru. Although it is not possible to offer a general characterization of which combinations are possible, it may be said that sound iconics rarely form -suru verbs (two exceptions being zawa-zawa-suru 'rustle' and don-don-suru 'romp about') and that all iconics describing psychological conditions, such as ira-ira 'be irritated' and uki-uki 'be elated' do have -suru forms. Other combined verbs are formed by attaching one of four other verbal suffixes to certain roots of reduplicative adverbials. Examples are betotsuku 'become sticky' (based on beto-beto); yura-meku 'sway' (based on yura-yura ); bara-keru 'fall apart' (based on bara-bara); and guzu-ru 'complain peevishly' (based on guzu-guzu). Of these four types, -tsuku verbs are the most numerous. Semantically, all -tsuku verbs and the xxi

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iconics from which they are derived have negative connotations (cf. Izumi 1976, Tamori 1986); the iconic roots, moreover, always combine with -suru as well. The converse is not true, however: not all iconics which combine with -suru and have negative connotations can combine with -tsuku; thus odo-odo 'nervous' forms odo-odo-suru and pun-pun 'very angry' forms pun-pun-suru, but *odo-tsuku and *pun-tsuku do not occur. No generalizations may be made about the -meku, -keru, and -ru suffixed verbs, which are few in number. Only a few iconics may serve as nouns. Examples are gota-gota 'trouble' (as in Soozoku ni wa gota-gota ga tsukimono da 'With inheritances, trouble is inevitable') and gori-gori 'lump' (as in Mune no gori-gori ga ki ni kakaru 'The lump on my chest worries me'). In standard usage such forms are always reduplicative bisyllables.

Sound symbolism Sound symbolism refers to the tendency of particular sounds, usually irrespective of the language in which they occur, to correlate with aspects of the meaning of words containing these sounds, for example the use of the high front vowels to suggest smallness in English words such as little, bit, little-bitty, itty-bitty, itsy-bitsy, tiny, teeny, teeny-weeny, teensyweensy, and wee. It is often stated that sound symbolism in Japanese is highly systematic. This position is developed in some detail by Hamano (1986). Japanese clearly does make use of natural symbolic properties of sounds; however, it is by no means obvious that Japanese differs in this respect from other languages. In particular it seems possible that what appears to be a high degree of systematicity is simply the concurrent presence of three separate factors in Japanese: (1) the relatively clear phonological, syntactic, and semantic separation of iconic forms from the general vocabulary; (2) the restricted phonological shape of iconics; and (3) the exploitation of more or less universal sound-symbolic tendencies. It is possible that the first two of these properties simply make the third much more apparent than it would be in languages, like English, in which iconic forms are not so evidently distinct from the general vocabulary. This possibility is discussed at length in Tamori and Schourup (1996) in which numerous parallel sound-symbolic tendencies in Japanese and English are examined. On the whole, it does not seem correct to claim, without extensive qualification, that the meaning of a Japanese iconic form can be deduced from its phonological shape on the basis of sound-symbolic associations. Probably the most that can be said is that such associations tend to be present to some degree along with non-sound-symbolic associations; xxii

introduction

moreover, the sound-symbolic associations that can be established by examining the entire corpus of Japanese iconics are not highly specific but range across broad spectra of meaning. In general, regularity is to be found only at the level of universals of s o u n d - s y m b o l i s m - t h a t is to say, associations available to individual languages but never fully or consistently realized in any particular language. For example, we find in Japanese an abundance of labial consonants (usually followed by back vowels) in words designating human fatness, such as bote-bote, buku-buku, buyo-buyo, dabu-dabu, debu-debu, de'puri, fuku-fuku, maru-maru, muchi-muchi, muku-muku, pocha-pocha, potepote, puku-puku, purin-purin, purun-purun, puri-puri, and their many variants. The same general tendency, however, is found in English, though it is less obvious at first because in English the forms showing the correspondence are not primarily found in a single phonologically and f u n c t i o n a l l y distinctive sector of the v o c a b u l a r y . Thus we f i n d abdominous, adipose, ample, bay-windowed, beer-bellied, big-bellied, bloated, bulky, buxom, chubby, corpulent, dumpy, fat(so), flabby, fleshy, full-figured, obese, overblown, paunchy, plump, podgy, porcine, portly, potbellied, pudgy, puffy, pursy, roly-poly, upholstered, and so on (See Tamori and Schourup 1996 for further discussion). The same type of correspondence is found in many languages apparently unrelated to either Japanese or English. The occurrence of a labial is not enough to establish that the meaning of a word contains a 'fatness' component, but the presence of the meaning 'fat' in a given word does indicate that the form is very likely to contain at least one labial consonant in some position or other. Conversely, labial consonants are extremely scarce in words denoting thinness. Although the meaning of a Japanese iconic form can rarely be deduced entirely from its component sounds, users of this dictionary should be aware of several very general sound-meaning correspondences which frequently recur in Japanese iconics and are often associated with subtle semantic differences between related forms: (1) Voicing contrast. Very frequently iconics with syllable-initial voiceless consonants coexist with those with voiced consonants (e.g. korokoro/goro-goro-, pari-pari/bari-barr, ton-ton/don-don; shaa-shaa/jaa-jaa·, chii-chii/jii-jii). In the case of iconics indicating sounds, forms with voiced consonants tend to imply larger sounds than their counterparts with voiceless consonants (e.g. ton-ton 'knock'/don-don 'bang or thump'). For iconics indicating manners of action or states, voiced variants tend to indicate one or more of the following: (i) larger objects than their voiceless counterparts (e.g. pasa-pasa 'beat small wings'/basa-basa 'beat large wings') (ii) greater quantity or volume of the objects involved (e.g. taratara 'sweat'/dara-dara 'sweat profusely'); (iii) more vigorous actions xxiii

introduction

(e.g. pacha-pacha 'splashing about'/bacha-bacha 'splashing about wildly'); (iv) more intense degree of action or state (e.g. piri-piri 'get a shock /biri-biri 'get an intense shock'); (v) negative meanings or associations (toro-toro 'glutinous' Idoro-doro 'sloppy or m u d d y ' ) . Negative associations (v) are probably secondary, resulting from speaker evaluation of the qualities in (i)-(iv) as excessive. (2) Reduplication. As in many other languages, reduplication is typically associated with continuous or repeated action (e.g. goro' 'roll once or briefly'/goro-goro 'roll repeatedly or continuously'). (3) Presence of Q. Forms with an internal or final Q (see comments on phonological form above) frequently indicate sounds or actions which are intermittent, irregular, jerky, quick, or abrupt, or which end abruptly (e.g. gaku' 'jerk'; pi'tari 'abrupt'); conversely, forms containing Q do not indicate smooth, continuous sounds or actions. (4) Final N. Sound forms with final Ν frequently indicate sound reverberation (e.g. dokan 'boom'); manner forms with Ν suggest emphasis (e.g. kachi-kachi 'hard' versus kachin-kachin 'frozen solid'). For detailed discussion of individual sound segments, see Hamano (1986) and Tamori and Schourup (1996). Note that the frequently occurring suffixed syllable -ri (e.g. basari) should probably not be considered a sound symbol in the usual sense, but rather a morpheme specific to Japanese. The meaning of forms with -ri varies considerably, but it frequently indicates completion of action and may suggest intermittent action, as in potori-potori 'intermittent dripping', which contrasts withpoto-poto 'continuous dripping'.

Selected bibliography Amanuma, Y. 1973. Gion-go-Gitaigo Jiten [A Dictionary of Japanese Iconic Expressions]. To:kyo:do:. Asano, C. 1978. Gion-go-Gitaigo Jiten [A Dictionary of Japanese Iconic Expressions]. Kadokawa Shoten. Aston, W. 1894. "Japanese Onomatopes," Journal of Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 23:332-362. Chang, A. 1990. A Thesaurus of Japanese Mimesis and Onomatopoeia. Taishu.kan Shoten. Gomi, T. 1989. Nihon-go Gitaigo Jiten [A Japanese Iconic Dictionary]. Japan Times. Hamano, S. 1986. The Sound-Symbolic System of Japanese. University of Forida dissertation. Hinata, S. 1986. "Man.ga no Gion-go-Gitaigo" [Iconic Expressions in Comics] Nihon-gogaku 5.7. xxiv

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.1993. "Onomatope no Miryoku" [Charms of Onomatopeia] Gen-go 22.6. Horii, R. 1986. "Gion-go-Gitaigo no Gen-gogaku" [Linguistics of Japanese Iconic Expressions] Nihon-gogaku 5.7. Inui, R. 1950. "Giseigo Za'ki" [Miscellaneous Notes on Onomatopoeia] Ichikawa Sanki Kan-reki Shukuga Ron-bun-shu: II. Ishigaki, Y. 1965. "Giseigo-Gitaigo no Goko:sei to Gokei Hen-ka" [Composition and Inflection of Iconics] Gen-go Seikatsu 171. Ishiguro, H. 1993. "Onomatope no ' H a ' s e i ' " [The "Appearance" of Onomatopoeia] Gen-go 22.6. Izumi, K. 1976. "Giseigo-Gitaigo no Tokushitsu" [Characteristics of Japanese Iconic Expressions] in Nihon-go no Goi to Hyo:gen (T. Suzuki, ed.) Taishurkan Shoten. Kadooka, K. 1991. "Nihon-go Onomatope no On-in Ko:zo:" [The Phonological Structure of Japanese Onomatopoeia] Kobe Ei-Bei Ron-so: 5. Kobe Ei-Bei Ga'kai. .1993. "Nihon-go no "Giji-onomatope"-Nihon-go to Chu:gokugo no Se'ten" [Japanese Pseudo-onomatopoeia-Contrast of Japanese and Chinese] in Onoma-topia (Hisao Kakehi and Ikuhiro Tamori, eds.) Keiso: Shobo:. Kakehi, H. 1983. "Onomatopoeic Expressions in Japanese and English," Proceedings of the XIHth International Congress of Linguists. 913-18. .1986a. " T h e Function and E x p r e s s i v e n e s s of J a p a n e s e Onomatopes," Kobe Daigaku Kiyo:. 13:1-12. .1986b. " E i g o no G i o n - g o - G i t a i g o " [ E n g l i s h I c o n i c s ] Nihon-gogaku 5.7. .1988a. "On Japanese Onomatopoeia: A functional Approach," Asian Pacific Papers. Occasional Paper 10: 279-186. .1988b. "Amerika-Eigo no Onomatope" [Onomatopoeic Expressions in American English] in Amerika no Gen-go-Bun-ka 11.67-81. Ho:so:-Daigaku. ,1990a. "Systematic Investigation of Onomatopoetic Expressions," Proceedings of the XlVth International Congress of Linguists I. 348-350. ,1990b. "Japanese Onomatopes: Their Function and Expressiveness," in Essays in Honor of Professor Haruo Kozu 255-262. Kan-sai University of Foreign Studies. -.1993a. "Bun-gaku Sakuhin ni Mirareru Onomatope Hyo:gen no Nichi-Ei Taisho:" [Contrast of Japanese and English Onomatopoeic Expressions in Literary Works] in Onoma-topia (Hisao Kakehi and Ikuhiro Tamori, eds.) Keiso: Shobo:. .1993b. "I'pan Goi to Na'ta Onomatope" [Onomatopes Which Have Turned into Ordinary Words] Gen-go 22.6. XXV

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Kashiwagi, Η. 1993. "Onomatope-teki Naru Mono ο Umidasu Sho:hi Bun-ka" [Consumer Culture Producing Onomatopoeic Words] Gen-go 22.6. Kindaichi, H. 1978. "Gion.go-Gitaigo Gaisetsu" [An Introduction to J a p a n e s e Iconic E x p r e s s i o n s ] in Gion-go-Gitaigo Jiten (C. Asano, ed.) Kadokawa Shoten. Kobayashi, H. 1936. Gen-gogaku Ho:ho:ron-ko: [A Study of Linguistic Methodology]. San-seido:. .1965. "Gion.go-Giyo:go" [Iconic Expressions] Gen-go Seikatsu 171. Kotani, M., et al. 1993. "Gen.go ni Yoru On-sei Chikaku no Sooi to O n o m a t o p e " [Onomatopoeia and D i f f e r e n c e s in Phonetic Perception] in Onoma-topia (Hisao Kakehi and Ikuhiro Tamori, eds.) Keiso: Shobo:. Martin, S. 1975. A Reference Grammar of Japanese. New Heaven, Conn.:Yale University Press. Matsuda, T. 1985. Eigo Gion-go Jiten [An English Onomatopoeic Dictionary]. Ken-kyu: sha. Matsumoto, H. and H. Kato. 1993. "'Bau-wau' ka 'Wan-wan' ka" ["Bowwow" or "Wan-wan"] Gen-go 22.6. Mito, Y. and H. Kakehi. 1981. Nichi-Ei Taisho: Giseigo Jiten [Englishb a s e d D i c t i o n a r y of J a p a n e s e I c o n i c E x p r e s s i o n s ] . Gaku-shobo:. Murata, Tadao. 1990. "AB Type Onomatopes and Reduplicatives," Linguistic Fiesta: Festschrift for Professor Hisao Kakehi's Sixtieth Birthday. 257-272. Kuroshio Shu'pan. .1993. "Nichi-Eigo no AB gata O n o m a t o p e - C h o : f u k u k e i To:iko:zo: Hyo:gen no Kan-kei" [AB Type Onomatopoeia in Japanese and E n g l i s h - R e d u p l i c a t i o n s - T h e Relationship of Expressions in Coordinate Structures] in Onoma-topia (Hisao Kakehi and Ikuhiro Tamori, eds.) Keiso: Shobo:. Newman, S. 1933. "Further Experiments in Phonetic Symbolism," American Journal of Psychology 45:53-75. Nishio, T. 1983. Gen-dai Goi no Ken-kyu: [A Study of Contemporary Vocabulary] Meiji Shoin. Oki, H. 1983. "Chiisana Teido ο Arawasu Fukushi no Matori'kusu" [Matrix of Adverbs Expressing Small Degree] Fukuyo.go no Ken-kyu: (M. Watanabe, ed.) Meiji Shoin. Okochi, Y. 1979. "Onomatopea, Ni'-Chu: Giseigo Taisho: Yo:reishu:" [Onomatopoeia: A Collection of Contrastive Examples of Japanese and Chinese Onomatopoeia] Chu:gokugo. Taishu:kan Shoten. Ono, S. 1984. "Nichi-Ei Gion-go-Gitaigo Katsuyo: Jiten" [A Practical Dictionary of Japanese and English Iconics] Nihon-gogaku 5.7. Sapir, E. 1929. "A Study of Phonetic Symbolism," Journal of Experimental Psychology 12:225-29. xxvi

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Sasaki, Η. 1986. "Gion-go-rui no Gobi ni Tsuite" [On the Endings of Onomatopoeic Words] Matsumura Akira Kyo:ju Koki Kinen Kokugoron Ken-kyu: Ron-shu:. Meiji Shoin. Schourup, L.1993. "Nichi-Ei Onomatope no Taisho: Ken-kyu:" [A Contrastive Study of Japanese and English Onomatopoeia] Gen-go 22.6:48-55. .1994. "Nihon-go no Kaki-kotoba-Hanashi-kotoba ni Okeru Onomatope no Bun-pu ni Tsuite" [The Distribution of Onomatopes in Written and Spoken Japanese] in Onoma-topia (Hisao Kakehi and Ikuhiro Tamori, eds.); 77-100. Keiso: Shobo:. and I. Tamori. 1992a. "Palatalization in Japanese Mimetics: Response to Mester and Ito," Language 68.1. .1992b. "Japanese Palatalization in Relation to Theories of Restricted Underspecification," Gen>go Ken-kyu: 101. Shiraishi, D. 1982. Giseigo-Gitaigo Kan-yo:ku Jiten [A Dictionary of Idiomatic Iconic Expressions]. To:kyo:do:. Suzuki, M. 1965. "Mukashi no Giseigo-Gitaigo" [Iconic Expressions in Former Times] Gen-go Seikatsu 171. .1973. "Giseigo Gitaigo Ichiran" [A Summary of Iconic Expressions] in Hin-shi-betsu Nihon Bun-po: Ko:za 10 Hin-shiron no Shu.hen (K. Suzuki and N. Hayashi, eds.) Meiji Shoin. .1984. "6 Giseigo-Gion-go-Gitaigo" [6 Iconic Expressions] Ken-kyu: Shiryo: Nihon Bun-po: 4. Meiji Shoin. Suzuki, T. 1962. "On Ko:tai to Igi Bun-ka no Kan-kei ni Tsuite-Iwayuru Dakuon no Tairitsu ο Chu:shin to shite" [On the Relationship between Sound Alternation and Meaning Divergence-Focusing on So-called Voicing Contrasts] Gen-go Ken-kyu: 42. Suzuki, Y. 1980. "Jo:tai Fukushi no Seishitsu ni Tsuite no Sho:ken" [A Minor Viewpoint on the Properties of Stative Adverbs] Yamagata Daigaku Kiyo: (Jin-bun Kagaku) 9.3. Takahara, K. 1975-76. "Stative and Manner Adverbs in Japanese," Papers in Japanese Linguistics. 2.1:82-93. Tamori, I. 1981. "Cooccurrence Restrictions on Onomatopoeic Adverbs and Particles," Papers in Japanese Linguistics 7:151-171. .1983. "Onomatope-On-in Keitai to Goisei" [OnomatopoeiaPhonological Forms and Lexical Degree] Jin-bun Ron-shu: 19.2. Kobe University of Commerce. .1984. "Japanese Onomatopoeia: Manner Adverbials vs. Resultative Adverbials," Jin-bun Ron-shu: 20.2:51-56. Kobe University of Commerce. .1986. "Nihon-go Onomatope no Haseigo ni Kan-suru Ichi-ko:satsu" [An Observation on Japanese Onomatopoeic Derivatives] Jin-bun Ron-shu: 21.3:84-105. Kobe University of Commerce. xxvii

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-.1988. "Japanese Onomatopes and Verbless Expressions," Jin-bun Ron-shu: 24.2:1-25. Kobe University of Commerce. .1990. "Expressiveness of Japanese and English Onomatopoeic Expressions," Linguistic Fiesta: Festschrift for Professor Hisao Kakehi's Sixtieth Birthday. 287-306. Kuroshio Shu'pan. .1991. Nihon-go Onomatope no Ken-kyu: [A Study of Japanese Onomatopoeia]. Economic Research Center, Kobe University of Commerce .1993. "Nihon-go Onomatope no On-in-Keitaiteki Tokucho:" [The P h o n o l o g i c a l / M o r p h o l o g i c a l C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of J a p a n e s e Onomatopoeia] Gen-go 22.6. and L. Schourup. 1996. Onomatope to On-sho:cho: [Mimesis and Sound Symbolism]. Kuroshio Shu'pan. Tanaka, A. 1978. Kokugo Goiron [A Lexical Study of Japanese] Meiji Shoin. Tomoda, S. 1984. "Onomatopoeia and Metaphor," Coyote Papers 5, University of Arizona. Uemura, Y. 1965. "On-sei no Hyo:shyo:sei ni Tsuite" [On Sound Symbolism] Gen·go Seikatsu 171. Veldi, E. 1990. "Some Aspects of Cross-linguistic Similarities and Differences in Onomatopoeia," Linguistic Fiesta: Festschrift for Professor Hisao Kakehi's Sixtieth Birthday 307-18. Kuroshio Shu'pan. Waida, T. 1984. "English and Japanese Onomatopoeic Structures," Studies in English 36:55-79. Osaka Women's University. Yamaguchi, Ν. 1986. "Koten no Giseigo-Gitaigo-Kakekotobashiki no Yo:ho: ο Chu:shin ni" [Iconic Expressions in Classical JapaneseFocusing on Paronomasic Usage] Nihon-gogaku 5.7. -.1989. Chin-chin Chidori no Naku Koe wa [The Chirp of a Seagull...]. Taishu:kan Shoten. Yasui, S. 1986. "Kodomotachi no Gion-go-Gitaigo" [Children's Iconic Expressions] Nihon-gogaku 5.7.

xxviii

A

a' S: A short cry of surprise, a'to Pi&fXLt-otZo Pachinko-ya ni hai'ta totanjibun ga oshiete-iru gakusei ni ba'tari a'te, omowa-zu a' to koe ο agete shima'ta. When I entered a pachinko parlor, I accidentally met one of my students, and I could not help saying "ah!" in surprise. M: In an instant [used only in the frozen expression a' to yuu ma], a' to yuu ma no Ν A' to yuu ma no dekigoto an event occurring instantaneously (2) i > o t m3 « A 4 a'to yuu ma no jin-sei a very short life a' to yuu ma ni (υ

4 fymt&it^1) fsmia fco Daigaku no kichoo na yo-nen-kan wa a' to yuu ma ni sugi-sa'ta. My precious four years at college were over in a flash.

.(2)$

-

$

>

-

ν


J fc, LT ^ t LfZo Soshite, sono soba no en-gawa ni koshi ο kakete, "Aan, aan" to, naki-mane ο shiteimashita. Then she sat down on the porch and bawled crocodile tears. [Joji Tsubota, "Oshoo-san to Kozoo-san - Shin-de-Shimau Doku no Hanashi-" in Nihon no Mukashi-banashi, p.149, Ka. 1975] 2

a'-ha'-ha'-ha aha-aha S: The sound of loud laughter. This and many similar forms, such as a'ha-a'ha, a-haha, a'-ha'-haa, a'-ha'-ha'-ha, and ha-ha-ha, portray nuances in the sound of loud laughter. aha-aha (to) >rvi] L T i f e i i & t i f c ^ v ^ o t .

Όt Ό

"Omae toko mitai ni gara no warui yatsu wa ite-hen το,"to Sakurai kachoo wa donari, sore demo ken-ka-shite-iru no dewa nai. Aha-aha to warai-a'te, shoobai-nin no yaritori to yuu no wa ara'poi no de aru. Though Section Chief Sakurai yelled, "You're as rough as they come!" he wasn't arguing, for the two laughed loudly afterwards; the words of merchants are harsh. [Seiko Tanabe, Higoto no Bijo, p.46, Ko. 1983] a'ha-a'ha: see aha-aha a'ha-a'ha to ( D ^ A / f r t i & Q t o - h ^ M O t L t Z o Min-na wa a'ha-a'ha to wara'te, uchi e kaeri-mashita. Everyone burst into loud laughter, then went home. [Kenji Miyazawa, "Oi no Mori to Zaru-Mori, Nusu'to-Mori" in Chuumon no Ooi Ryooriten, p.39, Po. 1921] aha-ha: see aha-aha aha-ha to (1) [fpri*] & t z t f f f t - f r f f & t i t * k f r b ^ i Ltz0 [Kujira ga] au-au wameite-iru to, atama no ue no hoo de, dareka ga aha-ha to waraimashita. As [the whale] was roaring in confusion, someone laughed loudly above its head. [Fumi Morita, Kujira niNa'ta Ichinen-sei, p,40, Ka. 1976] a'-ha'-haa: see aha-aha a'-ha'-haa to (i) r i s l f t t ? J ß C v ^ / U ä V o < Ό LfzXOi^-oX,

Ztifrh,

t&t,

"Obake?" O-jii-san wa bi'kuri-shita yoo ni i'te, sore kara, a'-ha'-haa to, ten-joo ο aoide wara'ta. "Ghosts?" the old man repeated in surprise; then he stared up at the ceiling and roared with laughter. [Miyoko Matsutani, Futari no l:da, p.26, Ko. 1969] a'-ha'-ha'-ha: see aha-aha a'-ha'-ha'-ha to

Takaakira wa a'-ha'-ha'-ha to oo-warai-shi-nagara, Tooru ο seki-tatete Laughing his head o f f , Takaakira dragged Toru off home with him. [Saeko Himuro, Nan-te Suteki ni Japanesuku, p.14, Shu. 1984]

kae'te-i'ta.

3

kera-kan kera-kan Μ: The state of being unconcerned or indifferent; the state of being open and uncluttered. a'kera-kan to (1

r g l i D f i r ^ l t i f i t f c ,

i o j t ^ ^ t ^ l o T

flucti, l I F H H o h i o t , "Ctc Maa, "Jiman ja nai kedo umaretsuki jikan ni ru:zu na no," to, a'kera-kan to i'te-nokeru josei mo i-nai deshoo ga, taitei no josei no baai, sho-kai toka ni-kai-me no de:to nado to yuu toki ni wa, jikan mo kichi' to mamo'te, naka ni wa san-ju'-pun gurai hayaku i'-tari nan-ka mo suru wake desu. Well, I'm sure there aren't any women who boast in a blase manner, "Hey, it's not in my nature to be punctual," and in fact most women on their first or second date arrive right on time, and some even thirty minutes or so early. [Hiroshi Kume, Oshare Kaiwa Nyuumon, p. 162, Se. 1979] $>-oVbfrA,ttz-filtZo Ke'tai na o'-san ga dete-kita. [...] "O'-chan kojiki ka." En-ryo no nai Misae ga a'kera-kan to tazuneta. Then this weird middle-aged guy appeared. [...] "Are you a beggar?" brightly inquired Misae, who didn't know the meaning of the word tact. [Kenjiro Haitani, Usagi no Me, p.244, Shi. 1974] (3) [...ι

>

tZo "Jaa, mata na." Shimon wa soo yuu to, pa' to te ο fit' te, suta-suta aruite-i' te-shima' ta. An-mari a'sari-shi-sugite-ita node, Jun wa pokan-to-shite tsu'-ta'te-ita. "Well, see you later," said Simon, waving his hand in a brief parting gesture and walking briskly away. It was so summary, that all Jun could do was stand there wondering what had happened. [Fumiko Takeshita, Doyoo-bi no Shimon, p.30, Ka. 1979] M3: [of p e r s o n s ] T h e state of being f r a n k , open, c a n d i d , etc.; [of p e r s o n a l relationships] simple. a'sari-shite-iru: to be frank and open (DtSte&pg Ο L t v ' t , Kare wa a'sari-shite-ite, tsukiai-yasui. He is frank and easy to get along with. (2) iSciSc b m 11 i a b o g 9 Kanojo to boku to wa a'sari-shita kan-kei da. She and I have an open, uncluttered relationship. ata-futa M: The state of being in haste or confusion, ata-futa (to) htz&tz (b) fflfrtfC ίϊοΛ. Byooin kara, o-too-san ga kuruma ni hane-rareta to yuu den-wa ga a'te, ata-futa (to) dekakete-i'ta. I received a phone call from the hospital saying that my father had been hit by a car, and rushed out in a flurry. (2) Λ Α Κ I i v ^ f c , b frfccTtfzkz&w^ V>oto Hachi-gatsu ni hairu to, Kotani sen-sei wa ga'koo ya ie no shigoto ο ata-futa to katazukete, kon-do wa umi e i'ta. 9

When August came around, Mr. Kotani finished up his work at school and at home in a rush, and this time went off to the seaside. [Kenjiro Haitani, Usagi no Me, p.27, Shi. 1984] (3)

I R o - C & T ^ & f c , r h ® $ Λ/(i-fSf ® t « f ± tίό7ί: 0 Ι ο Κ. JiAtzo Sono sugata ο dama'te mite-iru to, oba-san wa nani mo iwa-zu seka-seka to saka ο nobori-hajimeta. Kabutomushi ga ata-futa nigete-iku yoo ni mieta. As I watched in silence, the woman began hurrying up the hill without a word. To me she looked like a beetle scuttling off as fast as it could. [Ri Kaisei, Kanako no Tame ni, p.224, Shi. 1975] ata-futa-suru: to be flustered (1)

* ο fcyfcffls *) i f f ä « ί l u b ^ ö ä l t ; ^ ο /cο Tomodachi no ke'kon-hiroo-en ga owa'te, horo-yoi-kigen de hoteru kara dete-kitara, ikinari bacha' to mizu-tamari ni fumi-kon.de, se'kaku no reifuku ga dainashi ni na'ta. After my friend's wedding reception I left the hotel slightly tipsy and suddenly stepped with a splash right into a puddle, absolutely ruining, my formal suit.

bacha-bacha S: A repeated, large splashing sound. bacha-bacha (to) (η ΖΊ Lrfeja^ffitfTiJ-^^iJ-^^ it) X, * U S ^ f r i z i f r O - S v f - Ä ^ i l ä i f ^ tf-KlitH Kuro:ru ο narai-hajimeta koro wa, doo-shite-mo hiza ο magete bacha-bacha (to) mizu ο utsu node, ooki na mizu-shibuki ga agari, ikanimo dainami'ku de aru ga, mita me hodo supi.do wa de-nai. When first learning how to swim freestyle you can't help bending your knees and splashing the water with your feet, and so although you send up great sprays of water and it all looks very dynamic, actually you are not swimming as fast as you appear to be. (t) ffa fragte, tmnmiL/vfrt) LM-^ttiLtZo Hisashi-buri ni hatoba ni kite umi ο nagamete-itara, shio ga michite-kita rashiku, gan-peki ni nami ga bacha-bacha (to) uchi-ataru oto ni, kokyoo no umi ο shin-miri to omoidashita. 12

bachari I came to the wharf and gazed at the sea for the first time in a long while, and as I was doing so I saw that the tide had come in, and the splashing sound of the waves breaking against the pier wall brought back to me memories of the sea near my hometown.

Ichi-ban nigiyaka na oyogi-kata ο shite-iru no wa Takeko da. Kuchi ο he no ji ni musun-da kao ο takaku motage, ryoo-ashi de bacha-bacha mizu ο tataite, zen-mai-jikake no omocha no yoo ni ugoite-iru. The one doing the liveliest swimming was Takeko. With her mouth pursed grimly, her head held high, and her feet splashing frantically away at the water, she moved like a wind-up toy. [Yojiro Ishizaka, Yama no Kanata ni, p.231, Shi. 1949] (4) A L X *) C / U W M r ' ) * $ * L X ^ t z f r b , /NM £ Λ / Μ Κ / ^ Λ * *

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fefrjfeo-CLSofc» Hisashi-buri no basu no toode de uki-uki-shite-ita kara, Baikaru-ko ni basu ga tsuita toki wa ureshikute, i-chokusen ni mizuumi ni muka'te hashi' te-iki, suni:ka: no mama bacha-bacha to nami-uchi-giwa ο hashi'te-shima'ta. I was excited about going on my first bus outing in a long while, so when the bus reached Lake Baikal, I was so happy I ran straight to the water, and ran splashing along the shore still in my sneakers. [Rie Tanaka, Zoo-san Dan-su de, Sayonara Mosukuwa, p.66, Ko. 1983] bacha-bacha-suru/yaru: to splash about Koosaku wa sugu ma'-padaka ni na'te se ni tobi-komi, asai tokoro de, bacha-bachaya'ta. Kosaku quickly stripped naked, jumped into the water, and splashed about in the shallows. [Yasushi Inoue, Shiro-ban-ba, p.46, Shi. 1965] bachan

S: The sound made when an object plunges into deep water. It centers on the depth of the water rather than the size of the splash produced. bachan to (l)

^ Κ ί τ ο τ , ftiftlc&rim^-cv^iOfcjl-^ S i

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Pikuni'ku ni i'te, seiryuu ni sakana ga oyoide-iru no ο mite, tsukamaete-yaroo to omoi, iwa-zutai ni ton-de-iru to, koke de ashi ο subera-sete bachan to kawa ni hamari-kon-da. While on a picnic I saw some fish swimming in a clear stream and decided to catch one, but as I was jumping along the rocks in the river I slipped on some moss and fell sploosh into the water. bachari

S: A single loud splashing sound. It centers on the amount of water splashing upwards into the air. bachari to (mmtmit^bM^.

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13

bachi' Tomodachi to ga'koo kara kitaku-chuu, hanashi ni muchuu ni na'te-ita tame, omowazu mizu-tamari ni bachari to hama'ta. As I was walking home from school with a friend, we became so absorbed in conversation that I inadvertently stepped with a splash into a puddle. bachi' SI: The sound made when a large, nonmetallic object strikes another with force, bachi' to Sumoo no saidai no miryoku wa, kyotai ga bachi* to butsukari-au toki no hakuryoku ni aru. The greatest attraction of sumo wrestling lies in the impression of overwhelming power when two huge bodies crash together. ^p h κ , , Otooto to fuzakete puroresu-go'ko ο shite-itara, ayatsu wa nani ο omo'ta no ka, ikinari bachi' to zutsuki ο kurawa-se-yaga'ta. While I was fooling around wrestling with my younger brother, he suddenly got serious and butted me smack on the head. S2: The crackling sound caused by an electrical discharge; the sound of flicking a cigarette lighter. bachi' to

Ba'teri: ο juuden-suru toki, purasu to mainasu ο machigaete setsuzoku-suru to bachi' to hi-bana ga tobi-chiru node, juubun ki ο tsuke-nakereba nara-nai. If you get the plus and minus poles mixed up when charging your car battery sparks can fly, so be very careful. (2)AC/«„ 1 7 λ 9 - o t t t g LffiLTo A no baka. Buchoo ga tabako kuwaeta toko e, bachi' to raita: tsukete sashi-dashite. Just look at that bootlicking A! Flicking his lighter and holding it out under the nose of the Department Chief as soon as he put a cigarette in his mouth! [So Kuramoto, Shin-Shin-Terebi Jijoo, p.312, Bg. 1983] Fig: The manner in which the gazes of two antagonists clash, bachi' to ( D ü t e - H f r i ) , W*P±p t ' X K i f t b L T . t> fc. Shiai-mae kara, ryoo-ken-shi no surudoi shisen wa bachi' to hi-bana 0 chirashite, moo tatakai wa hajima' te-ita. Even before the bout began the two swordsmen were in fact at battle, for sparks flew whenever their piercing eyes met. M: The manner of doing something perfectly; the state of being perfect, bachi' to

14

bachiin Nihon de wa, atae-rareta shigoto ga don-na ni kakoku na mono de aroo tomo, nakigoto ο iwa-zu ni bachi' to ya'te-nokeru no ga eri:to shoosha-man taruyuen to sarete-iru. In Japan the ability to faultlessly complete without a word of complaint any task given one, no matter how difficult it may be, is considered essential for an elite executive in a business firm. ( 2 ) B ® I t w & ^ n & t f & t . t i i ^ m z ^ Έ.ηmtοtzζtau m f x ^ ^ t ^ c o , Shoodan mo matoma'ta koto da shi, kon-ya wa hade ni geisha demo agete ban to ikoo. "Now that the business negotiations have been settled, let's get ourselves some geisha and really live it up." (3) ' Μ ν Χ Ί -f~Ci>$>i> L, "Kon-ya wa kurisumasu-ibu de mo aru shi, bo:nasu mo takusan deta koto deshoo kara, wakai on-na-no-ko ni ban to chi'pu ο hazun-de-kudasai yo," to mama-san ga i'ta. "It's Christmas Eve and you've all no doubt received a big bonus, so please tip the young girls generously," said the Mama-san. M2: [uncommon] The state in which something looks showy or attractive, ban-to-shita Ν (l) ab Α s s m m i z . \iA,t L f c & j i r f r i i ^ - c f e m - a - f r a ^ o An-na boro-ya ni, ban-to-shita kagu ο oite-mo niawa-nai. Fine-looking furniture doesn't look right in a run-down old house like that. 20

ban-ban

7Ϊ„ lchi-do de ii kara, kare no yoo ni, un-ten-shu-tsuki no ban-to-shita kuruma de okurimukae-shite-hoshii mono da. Just once I'd like to be driven to and from work like him in a fancy, chauffeur-driven car.

ban-ban S: A repeated loud sound caused by explosions, or when two relatively hard objects come forcefully into contact. ban-ban (to) (1) W ^ m t i i l A r J L · ' - ( f c )

r U t f $ tifz£

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ktftbtfbtiifio Keikan-tai to han-nin-guru:pu ga ban-ban (to) uchi-au shi:n ga, terebi-chuukei-sareta koto ga a'ta ga, sono shi:n no hooei-chuu wa, dare mo ga terebi no mae ni kugi-zuke no jootai de, doko no su:pa: mo gara-gara da'ta. Once a shoot-out between the police and a band of criminals was broadcast live on television, and during that time everyone was glued to the TV and all the supermarkets were empty. Lfr*)itο [,..]J "O-kimochi wa yoku wakari-masu. Bari-bari gen-ki ni hataraki-tai-n desu ne. [...]," to kata'ta. "I know exactly what you mean: you want to enjoy working hard. [...]," she said. [Morning Asahi, 3-31-1987]

M3: T h e state of being first-rate or excellent within a particular field, bari-bari no Ν ( 1 ) Ι ί I? ff h bari-bari no pianisuto a first-rate pianist (2) bari-bari no wakate ben-go-shi a talented young lawyer (3)

Ό ff *) dai-i'kyuu de bari-bari no bun-gei-hyooron-ka a literary critic of the first rank M ' j A ' j i ^ ^ t ' j r ^ - v ^ a ^ ,

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Nan-ta'te, bari-bari no kyaria-u:man da kara, son-na koto suru no wa, puraido ga yurusa-nai rashii. She's a top-flight career woman above all else, so it wouldn't seem that her pride would allow her to do something like that. [Miyuki Aoshima, Miin-na Busu ni Hizamazuke, p.l 15, Shu. 1985] bari-bari da (1)

J ^ i i ^ T i f f i ^ H V i ^ hfiX i> WftSftJC^V» - a f S O l f ) I f ) fio Uchi no daigaku no boo-roo-kyooju wa.fuusai mo agara-zu tayori-na-ge da ga, are demo seiyoo-koten-bun-gaku no bun-ya de wa ichiryuu no bari-bari da. A certain elderly professor at my university is shabby in appearance and looks insignificant, but even so in the field of Western Classical Literature he is top notch. (2) y y y ^ m u if >) if Ό tzfr b, ^-jSwa-ayyw^Kii, fc bjSOo Kare no Furan-su-go wa bari-bari da kara, kon-do no yo:ro'pa no ga'kai ni wa, zehi i'sho ni i' te-moraoo. His French is impeccable, so let's take him along to the next academic conference in Europe.

31

basa' basa' S: A single forceful flapping sound involving a large surface or surfaces, basa'to t,

Ι"Λ-£< Ahoo-dori wa, ho-bashira ni toma'te-iru toki wa amari ookiku mie-nai ga, basa' to hane ο hirogeru to, yon-me:toru-chikaku ni mo naru. When it is perched atop a ship's mast an albatross doesn't appear very large, but when it spreads its wings with a loud rustle, its wingspan can be as much as four meters. AfJPK&TiHtTt&Sg, JUTtf 3 ο tm ft, ft MrfmftX^fzfztölz^ Vrft&MKW-^fziptfizCAs-C, ifzgZtSüitftttübb frltZo Ga'kai-yoo no kan-ban ο ya'to kaki-agete, iriguchi ni tate-kaketa totan, kaze de basa' to taorejimen ga nurete-ita tarne ni, se'kaku kirei ni kaita ji ga nijin-de, mata kaki-naosanakereba nara-naka'ta. When I had finally finished the writing on the sign for the academic conference and had leaned it up beside the entrance, a sudden gust of wind sent it falling over with a flap, and because the ground was wet the carefully done writing smeared, and I had to do it all over again.

Man-kai no sakura no ki no shita ni goza ο basa' to shiite, sono ue ni suwa'te, non-dari, tabe-tari, uta'-tari suru no wa, mukashi kara no Nihon no daihyoo-teki na haru no fuubutsu-shi de aru. Rolling out goza [grass mats] under a cherry tree in full bloom, and sitting there eating, drinking and singing, has been a common spring recreation in Japan since long ago. fzioä^WlW&io&öt,